Yemeni army building attacked

World / 2 April 2014, 12:20pm

.

Aden - A suicide bomber tried to storm the main gate of the Yemeni army's southern command headquarters in the port city of Aden on Wednesday, a security source said, in the latest attack by Islamist militants exploiting the turmoil in the country.

Witnesses and a military source said militants in a separate vehicle also attacked the compound from another side in the al-Tawahi area of Aden, using rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

A local news website said at least three soldiers and one of the attackers were killed in the incident. A medical source at a military hospital in Aden said it received the bodies of two soldiers and a third was suffering from injuries.

State news agency Saba quoted a security source as saying the soldiers foiled the suicide bomber who was in a vehicle that exploded outside the main gate. The soldiers also engaged a separate group of militants in a second car who had opened fire randomly, and were trying to prevent them escaping.

Yemen has been in turmoil since mass protests forced long-term leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in 2012. His successor, Abd-Rabbu Mansour, Hadi has been struggling to restore order.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is one of the most active branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden and militants have plotted attacks against international airlines from there. - Reuters